Welcome to Weird Science DC Comics, the DC Comics site for the common man and woman. We're not high falutin, just a bunch of dummies who love comics just like you...we just spend an insane amount of time working on this site for no pay. I told you...dummies! So, sit a spell and read our Reviews, News and Articles and if you are really brave, listen to the Weird Science DC Comics Podcast. We triple dog dare you!

And now, the end is almost here…the end of Amanda Conner and
Jimmy Palmiotti’s time on Harley Quinn,
that is. In another issue, the series will continue under the pen of Frank Tieri for…well, no one
can say how long. He co-wrote a miniseries (I think it was Gang of Harleys?)
with Palmiotti to get up to speed, and I think he did okay. But something will
surely be missing from this title with its originators gone, and Tieri’s got
big shoes to fill. Well let’s see how they begin wrapping up this run, huh? Check out my
review of Harley Quinn #33, right
now!

Explain
It!

What Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti have done with
the character Harley Quinn is remarkable. Yes, there’s the sheer scope of it:
71 issues over two volumes, plus annuals and specials. At least three related
mini-series. Another series in Harley’s
Little Black Book…that never went anywhere. Point is, it’s a large body of
work. Disregarding the sheer width of it, Palmiotti and Conner also did
something very interesting with the one once known as Harleen Quinzell: they
made her into a hero.

Now, let’s be fair: they didn’t turn the Joker into a sustained hero. Harley
Quinn came somewhat pre-neutered from her daytime television-friendly origins,
plus some palatable gag strips from the late 90s and early 2000s. She had long
been portrayed in many instances as a well-meaning goofball with murderous
tendencies. But Harley Quinn was never a hero—indeed, she was girlfriend to the
most evil and homicidal member of Batman’s villain menagerie. And over the
course of many issues, a richly-dressed amusement park setting, crammed with a
supporting cast we came to enjoy, came Harley Quinn’s true Rebirth. When she
was created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini in the 1990s, no one could have
imagined that she would be a member of the Suicide Squad, much less the
lynchpin character in a blockbuster movie. Palmiotti and Conner certainly
deserve some of the credit here.

I would have expected them to go out with a bang—or
at least a Wizard of Oz-style closing
where Harley says goodbye to everyone she’s met and loved along the way.
Instead, we start the end by getting a somewhat dull issue, drawn by three artists for some
reason—all of whom have worked on this series, but I wouldn’t “connect” them to
it like I might John Timms or J. Bone. Bret Blevins does the first third, and
they have worked on Harley Quinn
quite a bit…but lord, it looks like crap. Something funny happened here during
production, because I know he’s capable of better. This looks hurried,
amateurish…well-plotted but badly-rendered. It’s an aimless story that begins
with Harley mourning and then dressing in a meat bikini before finally meeting
a member of her skate derby team on the beach.

Otto Schmidt delivers a very stylized, angular
rendering of Harley and her world, which involves her fighting a giant roller
skating brute that can hypnotize just by catching your gaze. It was so random,
and Harley thwarts her by blindfolding herself. In the third act, drawn by
Moritat, Harley comes home to find that Big Tony and Queenie are headed down to
Tampa, Florida—why not come along! Harley Quinn is more than glad to, provided
she can bring Poison Ivy. Why not?

This was not what I expected from the penultimate issue of such a long run.
What about Red Tool? And that Batgirl from the future that only has a year to
be a hero to New York City? What about Sy Borgman? What about Chief Spoonsdale?
The Gang of Harleys? Terra? Some of these guys got panel time, but didn’t
address the fact that they might not be in this comic book anymore. I hope that things we get more of them next issue, but for some of them, this really felt like the end. Others were
mentioned but unseen. For such a rich blend of characters, I’d have thought
they’d get face time. Instead, this issue reads like scraps from the cutting
room floor from a couple of creators burned-out on the Harley Quinn grind. And you
know what? I don’t blame them. Take a bow, Jimmy and Amanda.

Bits and
Pieces:

Perhaps my expectations were high for this issue by Palmiotti and Conner, but this thing did not deliver much. The first part is poorly-rendered and meandering, the second looks cool but seems like another comic book entirely, and the third part is by Moritat, so it looks adorable. There's an attempt to set up Harley's Florida-based digs for the next writer, but it's a miss. We still have the final issue in two weeks, but this one just didn't hit like I hoped it would.

https://dangermart.blog/
-
*Too Dangerous For a Girl* has moved to new premises.
Please head for the Wordpress site at:
https://dangermart.blog

1 month ago

Comics Podcast Network

We Be Geeks Network

Batman Podcast Network

Recent Comments

Rant & Rave Line

Want to be on the Podcast? Have a Rant and/or a Rave? Don't like Eric's Jerk off Voice? I guess that's a rant...call the Rant and Rave Line at (641) 715-3900 and enter extension 452328 to leave a message for the podcast. Don't forget about that pound sign!!!